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Massawyrm Doesn't Worship 300 Like Everyone Else Does!!
Hola all. Massawyrm here.
Man, I hate writing reviews like this. There’s nothing more disappointing than being in a BNAT crowd and being one of the few not in love with what everyone else is screaming about. It happened to me last year with King Kong and then it happened this year with 300.
It’s not that I hate 300 or want to tear it apart piece by bloody piece. But it really disappointed the hell out of me – and most importantly, it bored me. You see, it has so much in common with the other recent Frank Miller adaptation, Sin City - and suffers from many of the criticisms abound there – but with this adaptation, it would seem even more so. This time there are serious changes to the material and the style is so over the top compared to the substance, that even people predisposed to loving this (like myself) will actually find themselves through the mirror darkly, staring back and making the complaints others make about our beloved films. I loved Sin City and defended it against the style over substance tirade many a time. Sadly, now I’m on the other side.
But it is what it is – and that happens to be a film that will be hotly debated in geek and critical culture here in a few short months.
First off let me say how beautiful the film is. It’s gorgeous. Stunning. You’ve never, ever, ever seen anything like it. Snyder does an amazing job of actually capturing and translating the unique visual style of the original source into the filmed medium. And that, in and of itself is a triumph. Unfortunately, Snyder spent so much effort capturing the look of the comic, that he missed the soul of it, and ultimately produced a very beautiful, but hollow retelling of Leonidas and his 300 Spartans.
Now, in order to truly convey the chief problem with this film, you have to have seen the trailer. I’m assuming, at this point, that you have. However, if for some reason you haven’t, you really need to – and can find it right here. There. Everyone caught up? Good. See all those gorgeous shots? That is a PERFECT representation of what you will see on the big screen. Now, don’t you just LOVE that stylish slow motion in all of the shots where there isn’t dialog? I sure hope you do. Because that’s not stylized for the trailer. That’s exactly how quickly every shot in this film moves.
Let that sink in for a moment.
Virtually every shot in this film that does not have dialog in it is in slow motion. It is a 2+ hour slow motion music video generally retelling Frank Miller’s classic retelling of Leonidas and the 300 Spartans. Sure, it is luscious and unbelievable. Sure it looks like the single greatest lucid dream ever dreamt. And, sure, about 20 minutes in that slow mo shit gets REAL old, REAL quick.
And really, the biggest dividing line over this film will be over this single issue. How much slow mo can you stand? Not just during fight scenes. Not just during dramatic moments. But every time someone walks, runs or rides somewhere. However, this is just one of the issues I have with 300. The other two issues revolve around A) The history and B) The adaptation.
Okay, the history. This is the most nit picky of the argument – so I’ll breeze through it. I love and live by John Ford’s Law. If you have a choice between telling the truth and the legend, always tell the legend. Cool. This DID NOT in any way need to be a historical retelling of the events. But there are several moments in the film where we’re given these shitty little moments of throw away dialog that is A) not adapted from Frank Miller’s version and B) not historically accurate in any way. They’re just…there. Dangling. Little WTF’s lingering for anyone who knows the stories or the history to try and figure out what the hell the point of even saying that was.
Which leads to the primary story problem – the fact that so much of Miller’s version of the tale is changed. Now this is CLEARLY 300. At times it is absolutely unmistakable. The conceits that Miller added, from the lack of armor, to the Quasimodo Spartan reject, all the way on down to the final spear chucking. They’re all there. But gone are the better parts of the story. Like, oh, I don’t know, maybe…Stumblios. Yeah. Stumblios is gone. Now, to anyone that hasn’t read the comic, this won’t feel like there’s anything missing – but rest assured, there is. Pretty much the best character arc in the whole comic. Gone.
Also gone is Leonidas’s overall general prickishness, as well as the brutality and treatment of his army. And while I understand why it was changed, to soften up these characters for movie audiences, their appeal was entirely in their cold warrior lifestyle. By the end of the comic 300 you fully understand why these guys were some of the toughest motherfuckers to ever walk the earth. Here, you just don’t. They just are. Which is entirely counter to the point of the comic to begin with.
But don’t for one moment think that these were cut for time. Oh no (slow mo aside.) They’ve been replaced by far lamer stories and character arcs to fill that time. In the place of the Stumblios story we have this ho hum Father/Son story arc involving the captain enlisting his son into the 300 Spartans. But even worse than that is the storyline that just reeks of studio involvement. You ever wonder what Leonidas’s wife was up to while her husband was away at war? Because you’re gonna find out. And apparently it involved all sorts of political machinery that painfully feels of historical inaccuracy – not to mention deals with all sorts of things that have zero bearing on the story of the 300. But we do get to hang out with Lena Headey…because she’s purdy and the suits thought they should add a woman’s touch to one of the single most masculine historical stories ever told.
But don’t worry, since it’s supposed to be Frank Miller woman, they totally ‘Frank’ her story out.
But for those intrigued by a film told in this particular visual manner or for those that enjoy cinema that is purely visual – something akin to a moving painting – this is going to knock your socks off as it did the large majority of BNATers. It really is jaw dropping. At the risk of repeating myself, you really have not seen anything like this. Ever. Ever ever. The battle scenes are a marvel of visual ingenuity. And the production design - the hair, make-up, costume, everything pertaining to the LOOK of the film. Just fucking amazing. It really is the prettiest film I’ve seen in a LONG time.
But I’m a story man. And that’s where 300 sadly runs off the rails.
Until next time friends, smoke ‘em if ya got ‘em.
Massawyrm
Your Webmaster shall blot out the SUN!
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pussy
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I've even found myself saying it in everyday conversation and people giving me the WTF look.
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Not in good conscience.
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I finally read 300 the other day and it was awesome. It was cool recognising bits from the trailer. Is there dick in this movie, though? Not that I want to see any - I'm hetero dontyaknow.
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Thanks for the honest heads up review massy, I got the same feeling from the trailer. It seemed vacant to me. Bummer that, making such a visually stunning movie with zero lifeblood is a real letdown. Oh well.
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I haven't read the Graphic Novel but I fucking loved it, not the "Best" film shown at BNAT but certainly my favourite.
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in "The Passion of the Christ". Sweet Jesus (urp!) that got old. I have very high hopes for "300" but there's only so much slow motion I can take... I've got places to be! Let's get a move on!
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But I'd much rather have seen Michael Mann's adaptation of Gates of Fire. I read a few interviews where he talked about the project, and it sounded fascinating. I'm just not a comic book kinda guy, and even though Gates of Fire wasn't a great novel, it was full of the mundanities of the story and I liked that. I thought Mann could have done a good job making it realistic instead of fantastical. Because it is an amazing story.
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I just can't stand slow-mo in big action films. It does not add drama to the scene for me, it just sort of takes me out of the movie. Now slow-mo of hot chicks running, now we are talking!
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Great trash: I'll do it.
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We only need one GOTTA EAT schmuck here on the boards.
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I was hoping that if someone beat him to the punch that he'd stop.
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and a little post-Troy, unfortunately
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...thoughtful in its criticisms. If it weren;t for the completely off kilter take Massa has taken on about 90% of the films he's seen recently (Ant Bully and Happy Feet leaping out at me) I'd actually be worried about 300. Don't get me wrong, it sucks that Stumbly's gone, but we knew they weren't going to do this completely straight-up, right?
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that 300 was not going to live up to the hype. I'll try to keep an open mind when I see it - but all the things mentioned in this review are exactly the kind of things that tend to bug me, too. And count me among those who think PJs King Kong was sub-par at best.
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I cannot stand slow motion sometimes. Especially the kind that skips frames. I hated it in LOTR.
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Not that I do, or know him personally. However, his reviews are not the reach around that most other reviews on this site are. He's a criticial critic-finds points he does not like and writes about them. He didn't stand up and cheer with all the other lemmings at BNAT because he *did not think the movie was good.* I bet if the huge circle jerk at BNAT stopped, actually examined 300, and discussed it from an actual movie standpoint, they would come up with a few points similar to Massa's. He does not give dissenting reviews for the sake of being "cool" or "different".. He's more of a critic than most "critics" on this site.
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Wait...so 300 isn't good because it lacks a good story but Smokin Aces is awesome and there's barely a plot? Does anyone else thinks Massawyrm is contradicting himself with these two reviews?
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I just watched it again on Cinemax HD (for the first time since the theater in '05), and it was actually kind of... awful. Embarassing even, after PJ's LOTR truimph The T-Rex battle and the New York rampage worked, but everything else was pretty terrible -- from the dialogue, to story structure, to the acting, even the look of the film. I was kind of shocked. Sounds like 300 might have the same effect.
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And that was the Basic Instinct 2 review. And there was only one sentence that made that review so funny: "bobbing man-ass". Cracked me up big time. The rest of your stuff? No so much. Keep it up though. It sounds like I'll agree with you about 300 once I see it.
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Smoking Aces set out to be a trashy, pulpy, gun-toting good time, and Massa implies that, to him, it was a success. 300 sets out to be a deep, sweeping, emotional war epic and Massa didn't think it fired on all cylinders. Seems pretty self-explantory.
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concerning the hyper-stylized look of the film and it being too much to consume in a feature length format. Massa just confirmed it.
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review.
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Leave it alone, Falcon.
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...is exactly what came to mind while watching the trailer. "Is the whole movie like this?" Turns out it is. Thanks, Massa.
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Realy go back and find my old comments.
Here's what I said: the slo-mo is overrdone, CGI looks chip and the action looks obvious. -
Realy go back and find my old comments.
Here's what I said: the slo-mo is overrdone, CGI looks chip and the action looks obvious. -
At the end of the day when an audience forgots the visual look of a film or particular shots, what they will remember is the story, characters and themes. Remember Ridley Scott's LEGEND? That also was a visually stunning film. Dramatically compelling? Not so much.
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is a fuck'n review.
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that has nothing to do with it. i can scarcely remember two reviews in which i thought this guy was commenting on the film instead of ONLY his opinin of the film. see his narnia review, where he basically claims people that dont love it 'dont get it'.
show me 2 of his reviews where he is right. youd think by the sheer odds of this sort of thing the numbers would be slightly more in his favor. but no... -
I CAN'T HEAR YOU! TYPE LOUDER.
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It's trying so soooo hard to be HARDCORE AND BADASS RAAAWWRRRRR that it became completely fucking comical. At least, that's what I got out of the trailer.
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each of their reviews. For instance, if Massawyrm listed X3, Casino Royale and Serenity in his likes column and Superman Returns and Borat in his dislikes column, then I would know that I could respect his review and you would know that you could dimiss it without even bothering to read it.
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That whole greengrass technique thats used during action scenes really pisses me off, nowadays. How is it that Lawrence of Arabia had a completely locked down camera throughout the entire film and was still able to depicta more convincing and thoroughly enjoyable combat/battle? I'll tell you why--talent. All those fancy shmancy MTV zooms and shakes do is disguise the director's inexperience and/or inability to film said scene correctly. Hell, thats what actors and plotting is for, last time I checked, anyway.
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and it gets overwrought. Story matters. Superman Returns = overwrought. Shorten it by 40 mins, not so much. 300 - remove slo mo, shorten by 23 mins = much improved. Maybe it's because of the increase in ticket prices that studios think we need more quantity of film, when what we want is quality. Massage with release doesn't have to take 5 minutes. Sometimes 48 seconds is even better. Am I right??
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Your comment was the funniest comment of the day.
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Make it so.
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...the shakey cam is fucking irritating (basically destroyed batman begins for me) and this whole style over substance is really destroying cinema. I love beutiful visuals, but if there is no story to go with it than what is the point? 300 from the beginning looked like a visually stunning movie with ham-fisted performances and little story....this review confirmed my fear. I will probably still check it out, but just like Sin City I will probably leave dissapointed.
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The objections raised sound like serious problems! Namely: (1) too much slo-mo, (2) wife-at-home battle-interruptus, (3) under-establishing the cause for otherwise improbable superhuman toughness, etc. Massawyrm is a good reviewer, even if he's consistently slightly overly self-conscious. (See, e.g., his embarrassing intro to his 2006 Top-N list.) I'm guessing Massawyrm is a young guy. I think Massawyrm will grow out of his self-consciousness and become an even better reviewer.
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If you keep throwing around terminology that just sounds cool, you're gonna poke someone's eye out.
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Was, historically speaking, a fairly powerful and interesting woman. It's Frank Miller's typical mysogyny that reduced her to a peripheral character. If they've chosen to give her more to do, I can hardly find fault with it.
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And when Miller did this project, do you think he INTENDED to promote the idea of going to War with Iran? Just saying--
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Looking forward to the film, but really glad to get this point of view. I thought it was incredible footage in the trailer, but it seemed kind of vacant. I'm back to being really worried about WATCHMEN. 300 is a great comic and love it, but WATCHMEN is the f'ing holy grail. It's funny I was worried with Greengrass getting the visuals right when he was going to do it, and now I'm worried about Snyder getting the nuances and story depth correct. I'm confident it will have a great look and from interviews he really does seem to understand what makes the book tic, but understanding and execution are two different things.
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pushed me over the edge. The Matrix slowed things down too much, too. Keep things moving!
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And gonna munch on popcorn when I see this shit. 2+ hours later, as I awake from my violent, sweaty, hallucinogenic throes, I shall look back on it as a damn fine film.
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...I had this same thought for a long time now. I thought for a minute I was just being cranky and crotchety and trying to 'go against the grain', but nah, it was warranted. It looks hollower 'n shit.
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I sometimes wonder how the great movies of 20 or 30 years ago would fare given a chance today. Probably not well. Too Boring and not enough car crashes or dailog every 2 seconds. Here's a cure. Turn off MTV or anything that cuts quicker than once every 5 seconds and watch and listen. And maybe you'll be transported to another place of wonder and story. Sin City was perfect. But the A.D.D. among you probably were too busy checking email on your cell to notice.
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terrible review
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unlike every other reviewer on this site. Good job actually adressing the substance of the film. This director is also going to do "Watchmen". You know he'll fuck that up.
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I'm not a fan of John Woo and the like.
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Lawrence of Arabia was able to have a locked camera and amazingly compelling war scenes because they had hundreds and thousands of actual people running over the dunes. Today films have 50 real people and tens of thousands of weightless dummies behind them. With CGI you look at the screen and see thousands and thousands of people, but in the back of your mind you comprehend the fact that they have been duplicated hundreds of time each, or the people don't seem to be moving quite right. Practical FX works better than digital FX in realistic movies. We accept Spider-man not moving correctly because he is a fantasy; we disconnect from movies that pretend to be real when they don't seem real to our brains. Ask today's great directors. Spielburg. Scorscese. Tarintino. Eastwood. I'd wager Del Torro would rather direct a real army of 500 for a realistic scene than a CGI army army of 500. Maybe I'm wrong though. If I am, I apologise to the directors above for misrepresentation and destroying the spellings of their names.
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From everything I'm reading on the net here, that Stumblios storyline this guys is lamenting is pretty stupid.
His name is a nickname for stumbling in formation. SO what was so great about this storyline then? -
and when it isn't hollow, it's simply homoerotic and slightly fascist.
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Everyone has their own artistic tastes... but I generally prefer a visual mix of such highs and lows. Look at Mel Gibson's "BRAVEHEART" (which is probably as close as anyone has ever gotten to how I would film action, myself). Just look at how Gibson used slow-motion in the entire film. It was a beautiful addition to the film's emotional power.
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that the fanboys here use the phrase 'good review' to mean a review that they agree with, and 'bad review' to mean a review that they don't like. Point in case; Anthony Lane writes good, fucking GOOD reviews in the New Yorker every few weeks. He loves things I hate and he shits all over anything that smells faintly of mindless fun, or homoerotic circle-jerks like this thing, but his reviews are always PURE GOLD as pieces of writing.
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THE CELL. And it's gay as hell.
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But of course I won't know until I see it. Of course, while this review is rather well written, and Massa certainly clearly explains what he doesn't like about the film (and I appreciate that), I do not think this is a fair review. Here's why: He didn't review the film! He reviewed the film AS COMPARED TO THE SOURCE MATERIAL. And that may work for y'all who've read the book. I haven't. I love Frank Miller (that's why I'm interested in this), but I could not give one leaping shit if some guy, who I didn't even know was mentioned in the book, isn't in the movie. Nor do I care if some character, who I also didn't know was in the book, has an expanded role. What I want to know is: how did the movie work? And if Massa, or Mori, or whomever, cannot separate themselves from their own visions of the material enough to simply review the film as a standalone entity, then maybe they shouldn't review the film at all. I do recognize the comments about the visual delights, and the over-use of the slo-mo as being legitimate critical comments. the rest of the review, though? Not relevant.
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...I'm a visual kind of guy. Yeah, I should burn in hell for this sin. But at least it seems I'll get some enjoyment out of the movie.
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So the trailer is an actual representation of what we should expect. That is good.Yet because it is a mostly moving painting ala overuse of slo-mo, this is bad. If this makes it more like House of Flying Daggers and this is bad to you, then this good to me.You complain that the movie departs from historical accuracy, yet Miller himself departed from Historical accuracy in the source material. Not understanding where you're going here.Stumblios being a goner, I hear you. That's certainly a Crying Shame. However, is the arc of Leonidas's wife really injected to cater to women if it has been 'Franked up'? Many women believe Miller objectified women in Sin City (odd, considering how noirish charicature was the whole point), yet I don't see that being a draw for them in 300.What I ultimately want to know that every review I've read has managed to avoid is this -- how does it compare to Braveheart? That was a gruesome film about a testosterone fueled war that still managed to hit major beats with most women. Is 300 comfortably within that barometer?
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Massawyrm...i just...hate him...i cant explain it, but theres just something not right about him...anyways, fuck you, i'm seeing it anyways
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My buddy an I were lucky enough to see a screening of 300 a few months back over at the Pacific in the Valley, LA. My friend got the tickets from some guy who works for a Test Screening company. I was told that it was the first screening of the flick in front of an audience and some of the FX were not completed and some of the score was not completed, but it was mostly done. So, I guess what I'm saying is- I saw it.
Harry, I think Massawyrm's review was positive, just nit picky. Just a few comments on Massawyrm's review.
"Virtually every shot in this film that does not have dialog in it is in slow motion. It is a 2+ hour slow motion music video generally retelling Frank Miller’s classic retelling of Leonidas and the 300 Spartans."
I never once thought that there was too much slow-mo. The slow mo scenes look more like the freeze frames of the comic. It's in no way shakey like Batman Begins, or frame droppy like Gladiator. It's like nothing you've ever seen. I loved seeing lots of the battle stuff in slow mo. There's so much going on in the action I doubt that you could even tell or apprciate lots of the battles and FX without the slow mo effect. And it was less "slow mo" and more time remapping. There's this incredible scene where Leodonas fights like 30 dudes - one super long take, not cuts as the camera follows along him while he cuts and hacks, grabs weapons off guys that he slices up, pulling off crazy combonation moves. The action is so dope.
"Stumblios is gone. Now, to anyone that hasn’t read the comic, this won’t feel like there’s anything missing – but rest assured, there is. Pretty much the best character arc in the whole comic. Gone."
I'm not positive, I mean I read the comics when they came out, and I have the single issues in a long box somewhere, but isnt Stumblios the same guy who says THEN WE WILL FIGHT IN THE SHADE? I think that quote is in the trailer. Long hair, kind of a long face, younger looking. That guy's in the movie a bunch. I remember a part where he fell down in the comic, and ya that's not in the movie- but I didn't miss it. Concidering how much of the movie is STRAIGHT out the comic, it's a pretty small thing to cry about.
"But even worse than that is the storyline that just reeks of studio involvement. You ever wonder what Leonidas’s wife was up to while her husband was away at war? Because you’re gonna find out."
So they took out like a 2 pages of the comic, and they added a whole nother chapter. She's hot. Got to have like 10 minutes for the ladies. And also she's really hot. Don’t think that Massa is complaining about a pretty girl crying on a bed looking out to a full frank miller moon. Those scenes she's in were great. They really showed the political side of the conflict.
"But I’m a story man. And that’s where 300 sadly runs off the rails.
Until next time friends, smoke ‘em if ya got ‘em.
Massawyrm"
Let me just answer this quote by quoting your glowing review of the piece of crap domino vomit inducing edited/ snatch wanna be(without the comedy), Smokin Aces.
"I mean, plotwise it’s pretty much as thin as they come, just one step above Crank in how much time they dedicate to anything resembling a plot."
So you're a story man? But you are not much of a plot man.
"Your Webmaster shall blot out the SUN!" - Massawyrm
"Then we will fight in the shade." - Stumblios(from 300 the comicbook....and also from 300 the movie)
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"which is probably as close as anyone has ever gotten to how I would film action, myself"that actually made me laugh out loud, alone in my apartment. thanks buddy. I look forard to when you, yourself, have the chance to film action. oh man, that's good stuff.
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THERE, I said it. And the dinosaurs weren't anywhere near as scary as the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park.
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for a movie. I never read the original graphic novel (I am not Frank Miller's biggest fan), but the addition of Lena Headey's character sounds interesting. Be assured, the Spartan Women were probably the most independant and powerful women in the ancient world. There is no need to add any anachronistic Politically Correct nonsense. Since the Spartan men were constantly away at war, women basically ran the place. The mysogynst Athenians (who basically shuttered their women away) were constantly scandalized by the openess and toughness of the Spartan woman. I cannot see how this is anything but an asset to the film.
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I can't wait for a director to fulfill my dream of seeing a movie filmed in x2 speed with subtitles. So I can watch it in half the time like most movies I watch these days at home.
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Slow -Mo plus shakey cam = This shit is getting old. Yeah 2 hours of slow-mo could get really old but I'll have to wait for the flick to see for myself. fingers crossed : )
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Kind of reminds me of my chief criticism of The Matrix: Reloaded. The opening shot of Trinity firing bullets while falling from a skyscrapper is easily the most boring action scene imaginable. 300 looks like a rental.
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all have a place if used correctly. It's not the camera technique. It's the Hollywood "new toy" mentality. When they get a new toy they play with it until it breaks from overusage then wonder why it's not cool anymore.
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Jan 04, 2007 2:20:54 AM CST
You can bank on one thing regarding 300 vs. WATCHMEN...
by triumph poops!
IF 300 actually does get a slew of lukewarm reviews like this once it debuts and IF it does underperform or only modestly well at the box office, you can bet that somehow, someway there will be a parting of the ways behind the scenes and WATCHMEN will be looking -- yet again -- for a new director. Such is the law in Hollywood...
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Does it mean that this film is an unwatchable puddle of puke, too?
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Yeah, totally thought the slo-mo and acting looked awful. For what it's worth...
www.solaceincinema.com/2006/12/12/300-spartans-1-opinion/ -
Yeah, totally thought the slo-mo and acting looked ropey from the trailer. For what it's worth...
www.solaceincinema.com/2006/12/12/300-spartans-1-opinion/ -
Ya know, I dig Massawyrm's reviews. In fact I look for his opinion above anyone here. Um, ok, enough ass-kissing.
We all know seeing a movie is an experience. The lead in to seeing a movie effects the experience as much as the popcorn. A super hot ticket babe makes most so-so movies decent. Seeing it with a hundred raging movie geeks wasnt enough to make him like the movie. Take that for what it's worth and dont rag on the guy for a couple of his personal closet movies. We all have a few we like that we KNOW suck ass. Some of us pull our tv's into the closet, a la Signs, and watch them alone and enjoy them.
Keep up the good work Massawyrm. -
I know he said he did, but you could tell he was actually disappointed but still felt like he had to give it a good review. This is going to be one of those kind of movies where youre suppose to think its cool and stuff and the visuals are amazing and everything but its really just a pretentious overblown bore. At least thats the impression Im getting. Style over substance. Maybe a better desription would be style over story.
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Sly Stallone can still tell a friggin' story without all the look-at-me camerwork.
Swear to god, with the exception of the black-and-white nonsense at the end of the film, the old-school camera work in "Rocky Balboa" impressed the hell out of me. I was watching the film thinking, "Holy crap--this actually looks like a *movie*!" -
Sure, I don't expect to ever get a shot unless I create one for myself. The problem is the fact that one must depend (so much) on others to make a movie happen. (A stop-animation home movie won't cut it.) As to my comment about "BRAVEHEART" feeling close to my own personal vision, in how slow-motion was used to heighten emotions and make them more powerful, ...I simply feel close to that kind of vision. That's how I feel slow-motion becomes quite powerful. And at the same time, I'm still interested in "300" ...as I feel slow-motion CAN be used to push a particular kind of artistry. However, in most cases, I dislike an abundance of slow-motion. I feel that there must be good reason for it. If there is no real emotion and/or power behind the artistry of such imagery, than it just becomes a slow moving painting, so-to-speak. And on top of all this, I think that any artist can understand what I'm saying, here, ...in that an artist can feel a kinship with the visual style of a particular director, ...or in how a specific movie is filmed. And also, I'm actually glad that people can enjoy a laugh at my own expense. I just wish I had a REAL opportunity to prove them wrong.
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... his good writing has directed me to a couple of Bombs (in my mind) one of which was Aeon Flux. Not that I can't see, in hindsight, the elements he appreciated in that film, but I don't know what to make of him. His distaste for King Kong endears him to me, and the trailer for 300 looked pretty bad to me, what with the overdone slo-mo and circling cameras, and the WWF style shouting. But if what some of you are saying is true, that the slo-mo simply allows intricate fight choreography to be more easily appreciated by an audience, I don't see this as a problem. I LOVED Matrix Reloaded's use of slo-mo to highlight particularly neat moments in fight scenes. (Trinity's fall in slo-mo is awesome). So, congrats, AICN, for once again confusing the issue so completely that I'll have to go see for myself. Wait, that has ALWAYS meant, in the past, that the movie was a stinker! In my experience, the universally reviled movies often contain unappreciated gems of entertainment, while the unviversally praised ones tend to be mediocre lowest-commen-denominator panderings. The "controversial" movies here tend to be artistic abortions that some manage to forgive, and some don't. I'll be waiting for DVD.
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... we saw one example in the trailer, of some guy walking up and down in front of an African King, or whoever he was, while the camera swirled around, and we waited for this guy to kick this African into the hole waiting just behind him. The fact that you knew he was going to kick the guy into the hole from the first frame means that all that camera swirling and spinning served no real purpose. I mean, the only surprise I got was when the obviousness of the coming kick into the well turned out to be true! Hey, he really did kick that guy into that well! So, I'm inclined to give Massa the benefit of the doubt on this, and a big "Nice Try" to the Plants who tried to undermine his review with BS about battle choreography.
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Seriously, so who gets naked in this?
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I should watch the movie before I go read the novel? Any advice one way or the other on that? I liked Sin City visually, but everything beyond Marv made me yawn. If the story and characters don't work in 300, it's not like it'll be a total loss for me either.
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...still do these? He's always so full of himself. He needs to stop posting his stuff. Hell I liked the first post "So what your trying to say is a GREEK banged your girl" - LOL... I didn't even read this review or the Smokin' Aces because I want someone who gets movies to write something about them. Of course you can tell what's going to happen in 90% of the movies, that's our reality, there are no major studio that want to take chances all the time on twists and suprise endings, it doesn't pay the bills. But Massawyrm commenting on movies is like asking Tim Burton to do an essay on blockbusters like Ocean's 11, wans't perfect, but still so freaking entertaining, yet he would stir the crap out of it because it's not a Goth looking crap and Clooney doesn't look so pale that even zombies would say "dude, get some sun". Massawyrm is like a failure version of Burton, he doesn't look at what the movie is first of all, how it was sold to the public, and what kind of story it is before writing anything about it.. I haven't read anythign of him since Happy Fett (Which from his view wasn't about Penguins, but more or less about religious statement and trying to fuck up kids to get them to hate all religion excpet the one they were trying to push the shit out of).. For crying out loud... Dancing penguins in an animated feature...300 isn't going to be the movie most people expect, it's a Frank Miller storyline, he's got a weird way of delivering things, look at Sin City. And if you're going to do his stories, then you might as well try to keep close to what he does, make a weird movie with different kind of filming techniques and storylines that will play with you from begining to end. When Miller says it's complete crap, then it'll be complete crap. If you aren't a fan of Miller then don't see this one, you'll probably hate it. And we have to keep in consideration that making a movie vs. the comic book, something can change in the process or things can be taken out because of time issues so it can't be perfect.
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Why can't they ever get the action jusssssst riiiiiiigggghht?
Geez, you guys. And geez Ringy.
I'm wearing a raincoat to this movie. "Thith ith THPARTA!" Who does he think he is? Daffy Duck? -
Yes that was truly stupid, but I had to get rid of it before it ate my brain.
Freefinger - "Happy Fett"? So he finally got over his father's death in that arena? -
Yep... typos are great aren't they... But I would like to see a movie about "Happy Fett".... Imagine that, they had a second clone raised by the original Fett, but he was too happy to be included in the wars, so they sent him off to "Boogey Doodie system" where he joined a circus. When he heard about the arena thing, he became the biggest bounty hunter in the "Doo Doo Batta System". Well... he was the only bounty hunter there so he was the best for sure.. would be direct by Mel Brooks.
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